London Bubble Tea Ranking

Bubble Tea is one of the most beautiful foods in the world, at least in my opinion. Delicious and cold with the little surprise tapioca at the bottom! Since I love Bubble Tea so much I decided to go on a little quest to see what bubble tea in London is really the best based on recommendations and online rankings.

I have these places in no particular order and go over where you can find the shop, the prices, variety of flavors and more!

Cuppacha:

This brand has a few locations including Soho and Spitalfields. The prices of the drinks are a medium is  £3.55 and large is £3.85 plus 50p for extra toppings. But the first topping seems to be free because I wasn't charged for topping. You can choose level of ice and sugar. I didn’t have the best experience because mine was Sakura green tea with ai-yu jelly. This tea had no Sakura taste, and was a weak green tea. The jelly was tasteless. My friend though had peach oolong with boba, very good, and very sweet even though half sugar.

MooBoo

They have a few locations, including Camden, Soho, and near Bayswater tube station where I went. The pricing was a medium £3.50, £3.99 large. You can choose ice level and sweetness. There is a good range of toppings and a wide range of flavors. I had Taro which was very good, and there was a good chew to the boba.

Wasabi

This chain is well known for their sushi and are adding bubble tea at select locations. This makes this tea a lot easier to find than some of the smaller shops. Unfortunately, they are pre-made so no customization, no ice, and  limited flavors and toppings. I once had one that was luke warm so check the temperature with your hand before you buy. I had regular milk tea which was good and not too sweet or milky. I also had a lychee fruit tea with popping boba that was also nice. The boba also had a good chew.   At £2.95 takeaway its cheap; the price goes up to ~ £3.20 if eat in.

ChaTime

A few locations like 11 old Compton street in Soho, You can customize ice and sugar levels. The prices range depending on what cariety you get;  £2.95- £3.40 medium £3.45- £3.95 large plus 50p per topping. I had a Medium roasted milk tea  with boba for £3.70. Boba was cooked well, tea tastes good and fresh but, I found it to be too milky, and while I got half sweet it was plenty sweet. My main problem with this place is their different prices per drink.

Bubbleology

This is a popular and easy to find brand that has shops near South Kensington Station, Notting Hill Gate Station, and Soho. This is a “new to Bubble Tea” friendly place and very westernized where other places still are very focused on the Asian market. It is set up like a laboratory with the mixers in lab coats which is cute. A regular is £3.45 and a large £3.75. There fruit tea is good, their matcha latte was a little grainy but not too sweet or artificial tasting. A big negative was the boba was undercooked.

Biju

I think has more than one location, but I only know their 45 old Compton street, Soho shop. A regular is £3.45 large £3.95 plus 50 p. for extra topping after standard boba. (At least I was only charged £3.45 for fruit tea with boba.) Their peach tea is very delicious. They make all their tea fresh per order using little espresso looking machines so it tastes super fresh and all their fruit syrups are made with only real fruit. I also had a Thai milk tea which was also very nice. Their boba has a good chew and the drinks are not too sweet.

Best deal for medium: Wasabi

Best for large price : Bubbleology

Favorite for convenience and ease and price: wasabi: This is the place I go when I just want a quick bubble tea fix because they are so easy to find (There is one in the Hammersmith tube station which I use a lot). I just wish they had a wider range of flavors or you could customize.

Biju is my second most frequented because it has a really cute cafe, and has super high quality and fresh tea and a good range of flavors.

 Well, I hope my Bubble Tea mission helps you decide what Bubble Tea places to check out next time you are in London! This quest sure was fun for me (though I drank so much bubble tea!)

A Visit to Laduree, Harrods in London

 

Laduree is a French patisserie that has a few shops in London. They are known for their macaroons, which are very good, but also apparently their hot chocolate. Since I had never had their hot chocolate before, and wanted to have a nice treat, I decided to stop by the Laduree in Harrods because it's very convenient to get to and if you have to wait in line, which you will, you can wait inside. In convent garden, for example, you have to wait outside to be seated and most of their seating is also outside which is not great for February.

When I got to Laduree I had to wait around 20-30 minutes to  get inside. Apparently this is more than normal because they had a lot of booking that day; it was also a Saturday. I got in around 3 pm and was sat in the lower café area near the cases with the pastries. I order the hot chocolate or “Laduree chocolate” for £4.20 and a selection of three mini Viennoiseries; the walnut croissant, pain au chocolate, and sugar brioche. These were £3 together as a set but individually they would be around £1.30. Once my order was taken, I received my food quite quickly. The chocolate came in a little metal pourer, so you poured it yourself into your cup. It had enough for a little over one cup. To not make a mess, I only filled mine up a little over half way each time. It was very good, thick but not overly sweet and tasting strongly of chocolate not cocoa powder. It wasn't life changing, I happen to have a great French style hot chocolate recipe, but is better than the standard hot chocolate and Starbucks hot chocolate. The pastries were wonderful though. The walnut one was my favorite; it had a walnut filling and a pastry icing on the outside. The Pain au Chocolate was buttery and flaky with super rich chocolate inside. The brioche was not super exciting, just a sweet buttery breast with pearl sugar topping, but I prefer having one pastry of a different texture, the other option I could have chosen was a plain croissant. They also were a good size, they were around the size of my palm so three was a satisfying snack. Next time I can see myself buying the slightly cheaper pot of tea (~£3.50) and the pastry election or one of the more expensive selection (~£5) or the large walnut croissant ~£3. There was an unfortunate mandatory 12% service fee that brought my total to £8.11. I think this is pretty stupid especially considering I ended up having to wait over ten minutes to get my check since they were busy and the one who got my check went even my waiter but another server. In the end, I spent about 45 minutes inside and over an hour there in total.

Overall, I enjoyed the food and the atmosphere. It wasn't anything ground breaking and it's not like I got the best seat in the house. The normal meals looked great, but way too expensive for me. So, if I go back again, I will just be getting a little treat again. But, all in all, a great place to stop by for a visit or a special occasion.